Jack Jewers’ Seething Lane is a historical detective story that places diaries Samuel Pepys in the role of sleuth.
If you like theatre, Royalty, or accounts of historical London, there is plenty to enjoy in this meaty book – around 450 pages in the preview copy.
It does assume an interest and some knowledge in all three – Nell Gwyn, the Duke of Monmouth, and Aphra Behn all appear in the cast of characters – but this is not essential.
Pepys himself falls into detective mode with ease, popping up in the less salubrious areas of the capital with as much curiosity as he spends “on the King’s business”.
The mystery and murders combine to give an engrossing and enjoyable read. I was very pleased to see female characters such as Mrs Pepys and Nell given considerable development, as it was clearly a man’s world in the 17th century.
Jewers returns to Samuel Pepys as a subject of fiction following his debut novel, The Lost Diary of Samuel Pepys (2022). At the start of Seething Lane, Pepys is again looking for signs of corruption in and outside of the Court, but when violent death raises its head he realises it is folly to trust anyone.
Without being a criminal mastermind, or a sleuth without a stain on his character, the great diarist is a fascinating person to place at the centre of a mystery. He is a rounded character who has personal demons and professional irritations.
You will enjoy this if you like Ellis Peters’ Cadfael series or CJ Sansom’s Shardlake series. I also felt that historical romance fans (Heyer, Plaidy, Gregory) might find something to enjoy here. It certainly checked all my boxes and I enjoyed working out my theories to see if they matched those of Pepys.
Arranged in dated chapters, covering ten months in 1670, Seething Lane is extremely readable and has a map of the area and a cast of characters included if you get lost when reading.
Seething Lane by Jack Jewers is published on 3 Sep by Moonflower Publishing and is available in all major bookshops.